PARDON THE STATUE!

We all know that outgoing presidents are famous or even notorious for their pardons. Incoming President Barack Obama could provide one “Change We Need” - a pardon for a “Lady.”
We would love to see Obama immediately “free” the Statue of Liberty from its hostage status and re-open the entire national treasure to the American people again.
If not by “presidential pardon,” then by decree of his new Secretary of the Interior who will probably be Colorado Senator Ken Salazar.
The Statue of Liberty is the only national monument that has not been fully reopened since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
The statue’s base, pedestal and observation deck were reopened in August 2004. However, at the stone pedestal, there are long lines to enter the museum. Once inside, you are barred from entering the 151-foot-tall statue’s interior containing the original torch or ascending the circular, single-file, 154-step staircase that leads up to the windows in the crown that used to accommodate 30 people at a time.
The closure has had a profound impact on our city’s economy too. Since the crown has been closed, there has been a 40 percent drop in visitors which translates to the loss of over two-and-a-quarter million tourists and millions of dollars they would have spent in the city.
Queens’ own Representative, Anthony Weiner, has sponsored legislation and raised money so the public could be allowed to climb the winding stairs to the statue’s crown again.
New York Senator Chuck Schumer and New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez sponsored an amendment mandating that the “Secretary of the Interior shall ensure that all persons who satisfy reasonable and appropriate security measures shall have full access to the public areas of the Statue of Liberty, including the crown and the stairs.”
Senator Obama voted for this amendment. And later on in 2006, Obama was a co-sponsor with Salazar who offered up the amendment. These amendments resulted in another “study” which is, due in April.
We say, why wait?
Obama or Salazar should seize the moment and do something symbolic that will tell the world that America is again open for business and proud of it too.